


I Remember

by datbenik513



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-17 22:32:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9349187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/datbenik513/pseuds/datbenik513
Summary: Voldemort is stronger than ever and launches the final offensive to conquer Great Britain. The resistance is massacred and a new era of terror begins.All these years, the last remaining spark of resistance was still smoldering before a new flame was born.





	1. Chapter 1: The Burning

Another night was dying away in the Scottish Highlands as the waning Moon ended her path above the hills and forests, relentlessly driven out of this world by the rising Sun, as the divine powers willed it in the beginning of the world.  
  
Together with the night were dying the nightly shadows; the hunters and the hunted were returning to their holes and nests, some after a successful hunt, some with an empty stomach, some simply happy to have survived yet another night full of dangers. The eerie howls of the werewolf pack in the depths of the Forbidden Forest were gone, as was the high-pitch chirping of the bats, and the forest was filled with different music as the first mockingbird awoke and welcomed the dawning of a new day.  
  
The golden fingers of Helios, at first, gently caressed the narrow valleys, embroidering them with golden thread, then, as the celestial orb rose higher and higher, its rays reached the eternal hillsides, were reflected back into the sky by the crystal clear waters of the countless lochs and found their way into the very depths of the centuries-old forests of the Scottish countryside. The trees turned their leaves, the flowers their petals towards the Sun and the air filled with the rejoicing morning chorus of the awakening fauna.  
  
Helios was smiling, enjoying his imminent powers, as he reclaimed his domain from the darkness and spread his healing warmth onto Gaia, his divine sister's body. Then, something else caught his attention and he stopped dead in his track, curiously eyeing the scenery spreading beneath him.  
  
On top of a small hill stood the remains of a building what until yesterday was a magnificent castle. Defying history, wars and elements for almost a millennium, it has been ruined now beyond recognition. What once was the home for the cream of the wizarding population of Britain, widely known as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, now was a pile of rubble, marble, stone and timber and only the remnants of what had been the Astronomy tower once stood there as an accusing finger, a memento of the horrible events that took place earlier that night. Where once the laughter and cheering of young witches and wizards was heard, now were only a few fires still smouldering among the rubble; fire set ablaze by man, by evil, fire that cannot be put out until it consumes itself.  
  
Last night a battle took place, a battle which would go into history books later, after many years, as the “Battle of Hogwarts and the Third Rise of Voldemort”. Hundreds of students from all four Houses, their friends and families, hundreds of former students, teachers, and those who simply possessed magic stood here as one, driven by a common will, to defend this last bastion of freedom against Voldemort, the horde of his followers and countless dark creatures he'd won over to his side. Having slowly gained control over the whole of Great Britain, Hogwarts was the last dangerous enemy he had to eliminate in order to break down the remnants of the resistance against his regime, the regime built on his ideals of blood purity, before he could justly call himself the ruler of the country.  
  
The castle was protected by old, unforgotten magic, magic that was already ancient at the time when it was built by two powerful wizards and two equally powerful witches, the Founders. The defenders added multiple lines of their protection around the grounds from all possible forms of attacks and in the beginning the wards were holding out. Were it not for a small breach along the southwest corner, where in ancient times a slightly overdone wizarding duel had made the ground magic-free in a circumference of 30 feet, the castle would stand. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, however, the breach had been discovered, and from that moment on everything was lost.  
  
Driven ahead by the sheer madness of Tom Riddle, the Death Eaters and their pet creatures stormed the castle and killed everybody on their way. Vampires, partially transformed werewolves feasted on the bodies of the defenders – it wasn't full moon, but the potion they had been administered brought out their feral instincts – and green rays of lights – Killing Curses – struck countless victims. Hogwarts, however, defended itself bravely. For each fallen student five attackers were killed and their lines seemed to diminish, but somehow they managed to separate the biggest and fiercest resistance group from the others and drive them into the Great Hall, from where there was no escape. When the roaring flames of Fiendfyre consumed them, the rest was quickly rounded up and then there was grave silence on the grounds. There was no victorious rejoicing, no moaning of the wounded, no crying over the fallen heroes.  
  
This same night Voldemort and his followers, leaving a bloody trail behind, marched towards London. No Portkeys or Apparition this time; Voldemort opened a direct portal, sacrificing the magic of a half dozen Death Eaters, leaving them as useless Squibs behind. The merciless, dark army took the capital and the House of Parliament with almost no resistance, save the few Aurors disguised as security, and at 5 am the Queen, suddenly looking 20 years older, her eyes glassy and hands shaking, addressed the nation in a radio and TV speech stating she was dismissing the Government and forming a new one, and then stepping down from the throne. A new, dark era dawned on Britain an hour ago, an era ruled by fear and discrimination, by terror and murder, in which freedom existed no more.  
  
On and around the Hogwarts grounds, overall lay scattered, mingled bodies. Bodies with no physical damage – victims of Killing Curses, bodies trampled by giants, drained dry by vampires, torn into pieces by werewolves, bodies frozen in that last spasm of pain as Acromantula venom slowly ate them away. Apart from having collected all wands, however, Voldemort ordered not to touch the bodies, but let them there as a horrible sign, a warning to those still contemplating resistance.  
  
Helios, deeply shocked by this display of evil that men do turned his face away from the bloodshed in pain. He hid himself, awestruck, behind a thick, gray cloud of smoke and mist and cried. He cried as he saw the broken bodies of those strong young men, blossoming young women lying there, bloodied, desecrated, torn, their glassy eyes accusingly pointing to the heavens and Gaia cried with him. In his anger and grief he sent lightnings onto the battered Earth and thunder shook the skies.  
  
The sudden rain – their tears – washed away the soot and blood and it slowly soaked into the thirsty ground, completing the cycle of life. New life was being born on the remains of a taken life. The smell of decay, however, lingered there, above the battleground, the sweet smell of blood and the dreadful stench of burnt, torn flesh, and it drew the attention of the first scavengers coming forth from the depths of the Forest, licking their lips in anticipation of the feast.  
  
Two ever-hungry wolves came out of the trees, their nostrils sharply drawing in the crisp air full of delicious smells, and slowly trotted towards the remains of the castle. The she-wolf stopped at a corpse, still warm, and slowly licked the clotted blood from the huge gashing wound on her forehead. Out of nowhere came a flash of green light and the wolf dropped dead the same instant. Her mate sniffed at her, poked at her with his nose as if nudging her to stop playing and get up. His brain, however, soon understood she would never get up again and the majestic animal, suddenly frightened, rushed back to the relatively safe depths of the wood, howling his pain to Heavens.   
  
A lone figure, wearing a long, black hooded travel cloak reached the clearing, coming from another part of the forest. Stopping dead in his track, his eyes quickly scanned the site of the massacre. Then the figure slowly removed his hood. The young women sadly shook her head, sending her waist-long, silvery hair flying into the air and tried to fight back her tears which attacked and overwhelmed her. Falling on her knees, she covered her angelic face with her hands and broke out into hysteric sobs.  
  
 _“Mon Dieu!”_


	2. Chapter 2: A Sweet Memory

Nobody knows how long the young witch was kneeling on the ground while the rain was relentlessly soaking her to the very skin. At a certain point her tears dried out, her voice failed her, so she was just sitting there, shaking with silent sobs.

Helios watched her sympathetically for a while, then took pity on her and reached out with a golden finger, caressing her face with a feather-light touch of a sunray. She turned her tear-stained face to the heavens and acknowledged the warm sunshine with a wry smile. Taking a deep breath, she stood and looked around, not really sure of what she was going to do next.

The first body she came across was that of a Death Eater; the eerie tattoo depicting a snake protruding from the eye-hole of a skull was still clearly visible on the left forearm of the young man. She cursed out loud and pointed her wand at the corpse, murmuring an incantation in a strange language which caused the body to incinerate and turn to ashes in a mere few minutes.

She pulled a quill and a piece of parchment from underneath her robe and directed her wand at the quill.

 _“Enunta mihi, quid es!”_ she pronounced clearly and resumed her pace, the quill and the parchment floating nearby. As she made her way through the clearing, she came across more and more bodies, scattered on the grass and one for one, she disposed of the Death Eathers' bodies the same way. She recognized more and more faces from the times of her first Hogwarts visit; when she pointed her wand at the bodies, the quill scraped another name on the parchment.

Suddenly, with a shriek, she recognized the handsome face belonging to Terry Boot among the dead. She didn't even have to instruct the quill, which, however, indifferently scraped down the name on the bottom of the ever-growing list of casualties. Pale, bloodless, the boy lay there peacefully, his once vivid blue, now glassy eyes staring into the skies. The two tiny, swollen puncture wounds on his neck - the same spot she was once trailing with her soft, wet lips causing him to moan softly and shiver with excitement – told her that Terry had been attacked by a vampire. She sat down besides him in the dirt and pulled his head into her lap. Slowly, gently caressing his hair, she closed her eyes, recalling the night of the Yule Ball, only three years ago, a night she would never forget, and silently mourning this handsome young man, her first real love.

_It was a beautiful December morning. The sun was shining brightly through the tall, richly decorated windows of the Great Hall and even the ceiling was enchanted to let the sunshine through. The Hogwarts hosts and the guest students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were having their breakfast. She was sitting at her usual spot at the Ravenclaw table, engaged in a conversation in rapid French with two other Beauxbaton seventh-years, her best friends, when she felt somebody's presence behind her back._

_She turned around and smiled at the boy behind her. “Hi, Terry,” she greeted him, waiting patiently. The boy flushed red and opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't; he just stood there, marvelling her beauty with his mouth agape. Her two friends started giggling, but she cast a disapproving glance at them._

_“Can I do something for you?” she repeated, looking into his deep blue eyes. The boy gulped once, then finally found his courage, although, she could clearly feel, he was extremely nervous._

_“I wonder...” he started in a hoarse voice, and the whole Ravenclaw table drew closer to be able to catch his voice, “I wonder, Ms. Delacour, if you already have a date for the Yule ball.”_

_A collective “Ahhhh” was heard and the other three houses all raised their heads, curious about what was to follow. Fleur, however, looked approvingly at the boy and shook her gorgeous hair._

_“No, Mr. Boot,” she laughed, “I haven't got a date yet. However, my name is Fleur and I do like my name, so I'd rather you call me Fleur as well, Terry.” She shushed her friends and expectantly looked into his honest face._

_“In that case, Fleur, I would consider it a great honour if you'd allow me to accompany you to the Ball,” the boy blurted out, flushing even redder, but seemingly relieved. Fleur stood and took the boy's hand, eliciting a small shock from him._

_“In that case, Terry, I would consider it a great honour if you'd accompany me to the Ball,” she answered simply, giving a short peck on the boy's face. She felt, rather sensed that his heart skipped a beat or two and reassuringly squeezed the hand she was still holding._

_Terry drew a sharp breath and smiled at the beautiful young girl. “Thank you, Fleur. You've made me really happy.” Collecting all his courage, he quickly kissed her back on her face, causing the Great Hall to bust out in loud cheering, then fled the hall._

_“What?” Fleur snapped irritatedly, turning back to her friends.”He IS a nice guy, besides, he's the best in his year. You'd better start looking for your own dates in case you don't want to turn into a wall flower.” Not that that was a real danger, she smirked. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were popular and had made quite a number of friends very soon after their arrival; the Hogwarts students were queuing up for them. Fleur, however, was different; she naturally attracted males due to her Veela origins, which, for one, she started to hate. Terry was the first boy being attracted to her and not to her Veela nature and Fleur really did appreciate this._

_Before leaving the sunny France, the seventh-years had made a bet which of them would be bedded first and quite surprisingly Fleur didn't win._

_Halfway through the ball she was thoroughly enjoying, after a few dances with Terry she danced with other Hogwarts students as well. When the Wicked Sisters switched to a slow song, however, she was pleasantly surprised to see Terry thanking his last partner for the dance and making his way towards her and now it was her heart that skipped a beat._

_Politely rejecting a handsome sevent-year Slytherin, she met Terry halfway the Hall and snuggled into his firm hands, resting her head on his shoulder. They slowly moved around the dance floor, gently swaying at the rhythm of the music, holding each other tight, oblivious to anything and anybody else. When she, halfway the song, looked up into his beautiful eyes, her stomach fluttered and her knees went weak; she captured the boy's lips with hers without thinking, almost causing him a heart infarct._

_When he felt her soft, warm, moist tongue seeking entrance, however, he lost all inhibitions and eagerly granted admittance. Their tongues fought a fierce battle, their chests rising heavily;they didn't even realize that the slow song has ended and everybody around them was jumping around to a fast-paced song._

_When they finally broke apart, flushed, out of breath, they looked into each others' eyes and started to speak._

_“I...”_

_“I...”_

_They smiled at each other, overwhelmed by the lingering magic of the moment. Then Terry, reluctantly, let go of her, took her hand and took off, pulling her away from the crowd, trying to keep this small universe of theirs unscathed for a moment longer. Unseen by the patrolling Professors, they entered an empty classroom and Terry flicked his wand, closing the door and applying an Imperturbable charm on it._

_Still breathing heavily, the two hungrily eyed each other. Then she caught his lips again in a fierce kiss, while her hands started working on his dress robe. With his trembling hands, Terry finally managed to pull down the flyer on her back and the magnificent dress, unsupported, fell around her ankles, revealing her magnificent body covered in nothing but a lacy knicker underneath. Their lips not parting for a second, they relieved each other from the last remaining pieces of garment, then Terry turned themselves around, effectively pinning her to the wall._

_She pulled him even closer, wrapping her right leg around his waist and pressing herself against him. When he gently entered her, she moaned softly into his neck, delighted with the sensation. And then, there was nothing else, only the two of them, as time seemed to slow down and their ragged breaths came in unison with their heartbeats, until Heaven came down on Earth._

Breaking out of her reverie, Fleur wiped her eyes, sniffing loudly, and slowly stood up, gently laying Terry's head back on the ground. Closing his eyes, she kissed his cold, lifeless lips and murmured a few words of goodbye.

With her sharp senses, she felt the presence of the ancient wards around the castle which were still intact. Being married to a curse-breaker, her instincts told her not to tempt those wards, so she decided to walk around their perimeter, trying to find a way to get inside. A good ten minutes later, when the tingling in her scruff had subsided and she found herself at the magical dead zone – the breach in the wards - she found another victim of the massacre, someone very close to her heart, and her heart-breaking cry swept over the hillside once again.

_“Bill, mon cher mari!”_

**Author's Note:**

> I have been toying with this idea for quite a while now.
> 
> This story is non-DH and non-Epilogue compliant and contains violence and non-graphic adult content, hence M-rated. Please read at your own risk.
> 
> And of course, I don't own the characters, only this particular plot and a few minor original characters.


End file.
